Joel Klatt predicts 2025 SEC Championship matchup, winner

The SEC Championship is three and a half months out from kicking off on December 6th in Atlanta. When that time comes, Joel Klatt at FOX Sports is predicting a rematch from last year’s title game of Georgia vs. Texas.

Klatt made postseason predictions for the conference championships and the playoff during his show on Monday. When it came to the Southeastern Conference, Klatt again had Georgia vs. Texas playing twice more this season, after facing off twice last season, but with the Longhorns eventually getting one of those as a win against the Bulldogs.

“I got Texas and Georgia in that game,” predicted Klatt.

Georgia went 2-0 last season against Texas. In a top-five matchup in Austin, the No. 5 Bulldogs won 30-15, after a 23-0 start, over the No. 1 Longhorns down on The 40 Acres. Then, a month and a half later in another top-five meeting, they played again in the SEC Championship, with the ‘Dawgs winning 22-19 in overtime. UGA won both despite QB Carson Beck being 30-54 (55.6%) for 231 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions in a game and half against them before injuring his elbow, leading to the appearance by QB Gunner Stockton to close the title game. However, RB Trevor Etienne had his best games with the program in those two matchups, running for 90.5 yards per game and scoring five total rushing touchdowns, while Georgia still won the turnover battle at 7-5.

Now, on November 15th, this series will go between the hedges in Athens. That’s where Klatt thinks Georgia earns what’d be a third-straight win over Texas.

“Now, when you think about the way that this season could play out? Texas has to go to Athens and they play at Georgia,” said Klatt. “Let’s say they lose that game, alright. I mean, that’s not out of the realm of possibility. Remember, Georgia is 47-1 in their last 48 games there in the last eight, nine years. Like, this team doesn’t lose at home.”

Three weeks later, though, Klatt has Texas finally getting on the board by winning the SEC Championship. It’s because, at that point, the Longhorns will have fully developed into the team they’re expected to be this season, namely on offense.

“So, you’d be asking Georgia to beat Texas a second time?” wondered Klatt. “This is a team that’s balanced. They have a great defense. Arch, at that point, will have a whole season under his belt. I think that they’re going to be able to run the football. And, more importantly, more importantly, their line will have developed, and the offensive line is one of the only question marks I have about this team.”

“So, I actually think Texas avenges that loss and wins the SEC Championship,” Klatt stated.

From there, Texas and Georgia would both again be in the College Football Playoff per Klatt. According to the bracket he released this morning, the Longhorns would be the No. 2 overall seed, behind only Penn State, and would again reach the semifinals while the Bulldogs would be the No. 5 overall seed, as the conference’s runner-up, and reach the quarterfinals after a first-round win.

Georgia vs. Texas was a high-level game between two of the best, one old and one new, programs in the SEC. Klatt now expects them to run it back again this season with two more matchups that they’ll spilt at 1-1, with the Longhorns earning the bigger of the pair as his SEC Champions.